Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Like the majority of bloggers out there, I have a fewsitetracking devices that have the ability to tell me what kinds of things people type into Google or Yahoo or MSN, that ultimately bring them to my humble little site.

Sometimes, I wish I didnt check said statistics because it just makes me feel dirty. There was a time, back in around August some time, that the 17th most popular phrase that brought searchers to my site was, disturbingly, "girls putting things up there pusses" (sic).

Ummm... ewww. First of all, they could at least get the grammar right. It would have been the possessive "their" as opposed to "there" obviously, but I suppose that's really the least of the problems in that search. Anyway, I ultimately got over that (for the record, it was calling the Olsen twins "sour-pusses" that did me in, as the other words are pretty generic) and since then, none of the searches have been so bad.

Surprisingly, a lot of people search for "Saffron Le Bon" (Simon's young daughter) which is kind of weird, and it's amazing how many people want to see "Hilary Duff's veneers" or "Olsen twins too skinny" but it's still better than the above-mentioned nastiness.

Anyway, there is a point to all this, because I was checking my recent stats just now. The O'Donohue twins got me 168 hits today alone (thanks, biotches!) so that's relatively normal. But then there were these:

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Monday, February 13, 2006

And that, my friends, is the end of my interest in The Bachelor. While I wouldn't be horrified to see him end up with Sarah Tennessee (despite what I've said in the past, I've warmed to her), he won't. There's just no romantic connection between them. Moanna's going all the way with this and that just makes me sick.

This time of year brings out fur-trimmed coats, gloves, and scarves and even whole coats made of fur—all of which are a painful, in-your-face reminder about the callousness of cruelty to animals for the sake of "fashion."

If you're as disgusted as I am, and I'm hoping that you are, please read on. I need your help to get the message out to friends, family members, and colleagues—and even strangers—about what's wrong with fur. Furriers and their cohorts in the fashion industry are doing everything that they can to promote fur, and they're even disguising the species of the animals the fur came from or mislabeling the fur as fake.

For starters, there is not a single law protecting the millions of animals killed each year by the U.S. fur industry. This means that it's perfectly legal to cram minks, foxes, raccoons, and chinchillas into tiny, filthy wire cages—where they stay for months or years, covered in feces and parasites and without proper food, water, or shelter from the elements—and then kill them by poisoning, gassing, neck-breaking, or anal electrocution as the animals scream and writhe in pain.

And it means that it's also perfectly legal to trap lynx, coyotes, and wolves in the wild and leave them to suffer, crying out in agony, for days or even weeks before stomping them to death or skinning them alive.

What's more, even dogs and cats are killed for their fur. PETA's recent undercover investigation into the Chinese fur trade revealed unimaginable cruelty. Millions of dogs and cats are bludgeoned, boiled, strangled with wire nooses, and bled to death before they are skinned for their fur. Imagine if your animal companion were stolen, killed, and then made into fur trinkets or fur trim for American consumers.

It's illegal to import dog and cat fur into the United States, but that apparently hasn't stopped the fur trade. The fur industry simply mislabels the fur, saying that it is from foxes, raccoons, or other species. China supplies more than half of the finished fur garments that are sold in the United States.

So if you buy anything with any fur whatsoever, you could be wearing someone's beloved dog or cat. With that in mind, when you're asked what's wrong with fur, please tell people that every fur coat, lining, or trim can represent the immense suffering of several dozen animals. That's right, several dozen—just for one garment!

With so many alternatives available to consumers, why wear fur? Why perpetuate the cruel abuse and murder of millions of dogs, cats, foxes, minks, chinchillas, raccoons, and other creatures? That's the real question. See why dozens of celebrities have said NO to fur.

The best action that you can take is to make a gift to PETA to help stop the awful slaughter of defenseless animals for their fur and skins. Thank you.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

I recognised them as soon as I saw them! That's Becky and Jessie O'Donohue. They looked so familiar to me because they were the models who used to escort the celebrity guests down the stairs for The Graham Norton Effect on Comedy Central. I went to almost all of the live tapings of that show and there they were, every week!

One week, the week when Macauley Culkin and Rupaul were the guests, I watched from backstage and saw those two in action. They sort of got on my nerves if I'm being honest, but that could be a total judgemental girl thing because I actually know nothing about them. They were just fidgeting a lot and were acting sort of miserable, as if it absolutely pained them to be models. Of course they could be the sweetest girls in the world and it was just your average insecurities showing because of the skimpy schoolgirl outfits, but that was just my observation at the time.

Why am I telling you all this? Probably because I never recognised anyone from Idol auditions before and it was a little bit cool. :-)

Oh, and for those who care, they also appeared on Fear Factor before, on a special twins episode. With the exposure they've had, I'm not positive it's entirely fair that they should be on Idol too, but what do I know? I'm just a catty girl!!

This past Saturday night, I worked the Bon Jovi show at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. That Boardwalk Hall is actually a pretty impressive place. It's big and it's clean, so I'm surprised more people don't choose to play there.

I actually got to go in and watch most of the show which was cool. I'm no massive Bon Jovi fan, but they were pretty entertaining. The crowd was really off the wall too, which can change the whole dynamic of a concert. In this case it was in a good way.

Anyway, Jon Bon Jovi actually left the stage and let Richie Sambora do lead vocals on I'll Be There For You. At first I thought it was some mushy way of winning back Heather Locklear, but I found out after the show that it was only because Jon's voice has been bothering him. Oh well. It was a nice thought! Either way, I have to say, Mr. Sambora totally impressed me. I guess I always assume that no one in a band can actually sing, aside from the singer. I was totally wrong because he was good. Maybe he'll inadvertantly win Heather back after all!

That's really all I have to report on the show, other than to once again share some shitty camera phone shots with you. Enjoy!

Monday, February 06, 2006

Do you know what that means? It means I'mHURDLING towards 30. That's what that means. Yikes.

You know when you're little and on your birthday, adults would always ask "So how does it feel to be [insert appropriate age here]?" and you were like "Good" when really it felt absolutely no different at all? Well let me tell you something -- 25 feels different. I'm certain that 26 is even going to feel more different.

I'm already noticing that the little lines in my forehead that show up when I furrow my brow stay there even after I'm done furrowing. I also noticed that I don't handle alcohol as well as I used to (having had my second ever hangover during my trip to England in December -- what's that all about??) I noticed that it takes almost double the amount of diet and exercise to lose half the weight. Worst of all, I notice that my once fabulous bosom no longer sits as high as it used to. And this is at 25 and 364 days, folks. What happens at 26?

The Killers are absolutely brilliant, and their style is reminiscent of my retro favourites. Coldplay fits the bill as a talented "real deal" act as well. Up until recently, I'd have been hard-pressed to name anyone else whom I look at as a genuinely talented musicians.

The first time I'd heard of Keane was last year during the Morrissey tour, when I heard through the grapevine that Moz had refused to meet them when they were staying at the same hotel, because he was bitter that their album had kept his out of the number one spot on the UK charts. Far be it from me to say if this story is even true, but it really has no bearing on the rest of my point here. It's just when I first heard of them.

This year, while in Florida, a live version of their song "Everybody's Changing" came on the big screen at the Hard Rock Cafe in Universal Studios, and I was totally into it. I decided that I was going to check out their CD when I got home, and boy am I glad I did!!!

Hopes and Fears is by far one of the best CDs EVER. I love it. I seriously haven't listened to anything else in months. I might as well have taken everything else off of my Ipod because I wouldn't have missed it. I know all the words backwards and forwards and almost everyone who got a Christmas gift from me this year got that CD (and for the record, they ALL loved it too).

I'd been meaning to write something about them for a while but kind of never got around to it (I was probably too busy actually listening to the CD). Then yesterday I was reading over the 2006 Grammy Nominations and was ecstatic to see that they are nominated for Best New Artist!! Woo hoo!! Of course, the fact that Ashlee Simpson still sings, and that Lindsay Lohan has a second album out only reminds me that there is no justice in the musical world, so they probably won't win. However, mad props to the industry for even giving them the nomination!

Good luck Keane!!!

*As they say, there is an exception to every rule, and Clay Aiken happens to be it in this case. At least I admit it!